ASML delivered the world's first High NA EUV extreme ultraviolet lithography machine to Intel at the end of last year. At the same time, it is researching a more powerful Hyper NA EUV lithography machine, which is expected to advance the semiconductor process to about 0.2nm, or 2 angstroms.
The aperture value of ASML's first-generation Low NA EUV lithography machine is only 0.33, and the corresponding product is named NXE series, including the existing 3400B/C, 3600D, 3800E, and the future 4000F, 4200G, and 4X00.
The series is expected to be able to mass-produce 2nm by 2025, and multiple exposures will have to be added later. It is expected to achieve mass production of 1.4nm by 2027.
The High NA lithography machine has been upgraded to 0.55, corresponding to the EXE series of products, including the existing 5000, 5200B, and the future 5400, 5600, and 5X00.
They will start from processes below 2nm. Intel's first launch is 14A 1.4nm. It is expected that 1nm will be mass-produced around 2029. With multiple exposures, 0.5nm can be mass-produced around 2033, and at least 0.7nm can be supported.
0.2nm process can be mass-produced! ASML announces Hyper NA EUV lithography machine: the dead end is not far away
The next Hyper NA lithography machine is expected to reach 0.75 or even higher, and will be launched around 2030. The corresponding product is named the HXE series.
ASML predicts that Hyper AN lithography machine may be able to achieve mass production of 0.2nm or even more advanced processes, but it is not completely certain at present.
It is worth mentioning that the diameter of a single silicon atom is about 0.1nm, but the process nodes mentioned above are not the real physical size of transistors, but an equivalent statement based on a certain proportion of performance and energy efficiency improvement.
For example, for the 0.2nm process, the actual transistor metal spacing is about 16-12nm, and will continue to shrink to 14-10nm.
Low/High/Hyper lithography machines will use a single EUV platform, and a large number of modules will be compatible with each other, which will greatly reduce the cost of R&D, manufacturing, and deployment.
However, the price of a single High NA lithography machine has reached about 350 million euros, and the price of Hyper NA lithography machines will inevitably continue to rise sharply, and it is getting closer to the physical limit. Therefore, no one knows what will happen to Hyper NA from a technical or cost perspective.
Kurt Ronse, project director of the Microelectronics Research Center (IMEC), said pessimistically: "It is unimaginable that the device components are only 0.2nm in size, which is only equivalent to the width of two atoms. Perhaps at some point, the existing lithography technology will inevitably end."
